Chapter 118

In a Pokémon Arena, Leaf stood at the western end, and opposite to her, 50 metres away, one of the Head Teachers of the Dojo, Kiyo, was standing.

Terri was in the Referee's corner, and she raised her hand before she announced what this Pokemon Battle was about.

"Leaf Green from Pallet Town has challenged the Fighting Dojo. The Head Teacher, Kiyo, has accepted her challenge." She smiled. "Both of them are only allowed to use one Pokémon, and as per the rules decided by both, they will use the same kind of Pokémon in this Battle. Good luck! And let's begin!"

"Go, Chopper!" Leaf excitedly said to Aizen's Machoke, whom she had borrowed for this battle.

She could have picked any Pokemon from the Dojo, but Chopper was the one she was very familiar with and had often seen in battles. There was no better option for her.

"Machoke!" The Fighting Pokémon announced itself as it stepped inside the Arena, and then watched as Kiyo's Machoke stepped in the Arena as well.

"Bulk up!"

"Bulk up!"

Both the Trianers gave out the same instruction, and soon a battle commenced between the two Pokemon, which tested them to their limits and all their Fighting Skills.

From grappling, wrestling, striking, tossing, slamming, kicking, there was just everything in this Battle, and having watched Aizen use his Machoke against Misty's Poliwrath in nearly a dozen battles, Leaf was very comfortable with her instructions as she understood the limits of Machoke.

Aizen, Sabrina, Misty, and Anira were quite impressed by her performance, especially how she never lost her composure even when things turned for worse in the battle.

Both Pokémon were evenly matched right to the end, and Kiyo, who had trained his Machoke for a long time, was surprised at how it never got a clear advantage in the fight.

Chopper was incredibly resilient, refusing to lose, and just when it seemed like the battle would end in a tie, a smile formed on Aizen's lips.

Seconds later, Chopper suddenly burst out with energy, catching the opponent by surprise, and managed to land a Dynamic Punch, which confused Machoke.

Next, it started beating the life out of the opponent using Close-Combat, and to end things, performed a Seismic Toss.

Everyone in the Arena was surprised at what they had just witnessed. Even Leaf had her mouth dropped open in shock.

However, as soon as she understood that she had won, she rushed into the Arena and jumped on Machoke's back, hugging him from behind.

"You are the best, Chopper!"

"Machoke!" The Pokémon flexed its biceps and then walked over to offer his hand to the fallen Machoke, helping it stand up.

"Machoke..."

"Machoke..."

The two of them happily started conversing with each other, and Leaf jumped off its back and rushed to Aizen's side, lunging right into his arms.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. And good fight." He patted her head and then smiled at little Panda Pokémon, who was looking at Machoke with stars in its eyes.

"Well, this was unexpected. I didn't know your Machoke was holding back too." Kiyo and Koichi walked over to them, and the latter nodded his head to his friend's words.

"Indeed. Your Machoke is very well-trained." The Dojo Master commented.

"Thank you." Aizen smiled at them. "Chopper just managed to catch your Machoke by surprise. The match would have likely ended in a draw or even his loss if he had not succeeded with that Dynamic Punch."

"True." Kiyo nodded his head but did not seem bothered at his loss. "Congratulations, Leaf. The Pancham is yours."

"Take good care of it."

"I will!" She promised to the two Martial Arts Masters, and then happily walked over to the Panda Pokémon, picking it up in her arms and rubbing her cheek on its head.

They all watched her take out a beautiful white and black Luxury Ball and initiate the catching mechanism, which went without a hitch.

Anira was the first one to congratulate her friend, and the rest followed suit.

The group stayed in the Dojo for a couple of more hours, where Sabrina had a duel with Terri, and Misty too decided to challenge the Dojo Master to a Pokémon Battle.

However, her luck was not as great as her friend's. Her Poliwrath failed to win against Koichi's Poliwrath, losing after a very memorable battle. One that she could not even be upset about.

Misty promised that she and Poliwrath would return in a few months to challenge the Dojo again, and Koichi told her that he would be waiting for them.

Aizen and Sabrina left their Machoke and Machamp at the Dojo, deciding to let them have some fun with their kind for the duration they were going to stay in Saffron City.

Once they returned to the Saffron Gym, Misty and Leaf finally could not contain their curiosity and asked which Pokémon the Egg that Aizen had chosen belonged to.

However, before he could answer, Sabrina told them what it was.

"It's a Shinx."

"Shinx?" Leaf curiously checked her Pokedex and gushed at how cute a Shinx was, but Misty felt even more sad.

"I hope it hatches and Shinx comes out healthy." She sighed, and both Aizen and Amira smiled at her words.

"Don't worry. It will be fine." The Orayen Princess told her and then followed Leaf to their room.

The girl from Pallet Town went straight to work as she formulated a training plan for her Pancham, and also introduced it to the rest of her team.

Misty too went to her room to take a bath, but Sabrina stayed with Aizen. She sat down on the couch and started meditating.

The Orayen Prince carefully poured his Aura inside the Egg which had lots of cracks on it, and then spoke in his mind.

"Lyla." He called out to the Crimson Queen, and hearing his call, the Pokémon Egg in his hand suddenly disappeared, entering the Promise Ball where Lyla resided.

A few seconds later, the Egg appeared again in his hands, and he heard a sweet voice in his mind.

[Shinx is fine. Do not use an Incubator. It will hatch on its own in a month.]

"Thank you."

[You're blessed, My Love.] There was a hint of amusement in her voice before she switched off the link, and it left Aizen a little confused at what she meant.

Placing the Egg back inside its Egg Case and next to his bed, he headed to the bathroom to freshen up, and once he got ready again, he left for the Poke Mart.

Earlier today, when they visited the Mart, he had seen the new Egg Cases, which were much safer and could handle more accidents than the old ones, and he decided to get one so that he could safely carry the Egg in his backpack.

Aizen was on his way back to the Saffron Gym when suddenly he sensed someone rushing towards him, and just when he turned around, he heard her call out to him.

"Aizen!"

He was a little surprised to see who it was but more than that, he was surprised at how she rushed forward and hugged him tightly.

"Please, play along." He heard her whisper and smiled before wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Hello, Daisy." He greeted her and teased her by planting a kiss on her head, which earned him a pinch on his side. "You know, we have a lot of eyes on her right now?"

"Good."

Aizen laughed when he heard her response and finally separated from her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Had a meet-up with some old friends who are visiting Kanto." She informed him right before she sensed him looking behind her.

Daisy quickly grabbed his arm, appearing very intimate, and then turned around to smile at the group of people who were coming over.

However, she panicked when she heard two of her friends greet the Orayen Prince.

"Aizen!"

A purple-haired girl and a blonde-haired young man, both seemingly in their early twenties, rushed up to hug him, not caring that Daisy was holding his arm.

"Sina. Dexio." He greeted them back, laughing at their behaviour. "What are you doing in Kanto? Friends with Daisy?"

"You never told us you knew Daisy!" Sina accusingly said.

"You never told me either that you knew her." He retorted, which made her smile.

"You never asked. You were always too busy with your Research whenever you came over to our Laboratory." It was Dexio who spoke, and Aizen could only shrug at his words.

It was true.

Even though the three of them could be considered friends, they had not really talked much about things which did not concern their profession.

Both Dexio and Sina were Professor Sycamore's Assistants, and they were some of the nicest people he had the pleasure of knowing.

Aizen sensed that Daisy was panicking, and so he gently squeezed her hand.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce you to her then. Meet Daisy Williams, the eldest of the Waterflower Sisters, and my Girlfriend."

"What?!"

Both of them exclaimed in surprise, and a young man, who was standing with two other people in their group, cried out in shock.

"What?" Aizen laughed at their reaction and then leaned to the side to plant a kiss on Daisy's cheek, which made her blush and cutely glare at him.

However, since she did not object to it, and coupled with the blush on her cheeks, it was confirmed to everyone that they were indeed in a relationship.

Sina was very excited at the news, but Dexio felt a little awkward, mostly because of the lemon-haired man, who was dressed in an extravagant blue suit.

"You can't be her boyfriend!" And sure enough, he burst out, making Dexio wince.

"Excuse me?" Aizen curiously looked at the young man, who was looking very angry right now.

"I am Anthony, Anthony Marken." He managed to control his anger a little and gave his name. "Who are you?"

He was being a little rude now, putting his friends in an awkward position in this interaction.

"Anthony, please." Dexio hinted to his friend to stay calm, but one look at how intimately Daisy was hugging Aizen's arm was enough to make the latter clench his fists.

Anthony did not look at his friend or Aizen but turned to speak to Daisy.

"If you do not want to accept my proposal, fine, but you don't need to go around and find a fake boyfriend."

The Orayen Prince could sense how much his words ticked Daisy off, and he could also sense the hatred Anthony's heart held for him now.

However, no one, including him, could have expected what happened next.

Daisy suddenly pulled him down by the collar and captured his lips, earning a gasp from the last girl in the group, who had stayed silent so far.

"He's not fake!" The Waterflower stubbornly told the young man, whose face was ashen right now, and just when he was about to step forward to punch Aizen in the face, Dexio and the last boy in their group immediately grabbed him and pulled him away.

"You..." He was clearly going to hurl something foul at Daisy, but managed to hold himself back in time and hatefully glared at the Orayen Prince.

"You did not have to hurt his feelings like that, Daisy." The girl with black hair expressed her displeasure and sighed.

"You lied to me, Candy. You told me he was not coming with you. All of you know that I don't like him, yet you try to push us together. I am the one who should be disappointed, and I am disappointed." The blonde Waterflower was blunt with her words, and it really embarrassed the black-haired girl.

Sina too felt a little awkward, but she was more curious about how Aizen and Daisy met, and both of them excused themselves out of the question, promising to give her the details later.